Friend lied about having emotional support dog.

The website you linked to says:

"Assistance dogs are not pets. They are treated as ‘auxiliary aids’."

In the case of my friend, the dog is a pet.

It also says:

"Does this guidance cover emotional support animals?

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are not defined in UK legislation. Service providers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. It is unlikely to be a reasonable adjustment for service providers to be required to give access to multiple types of ESAs, and dogs who are not trained as assistance dogs.

This does not mean that it will never be reasonable for a service provider to give access to a disabled person's emotional support dog / animal. Only the courts could decide based on the specific facts and circumstances of each case."

(I added the underline)

My friend has no mental health issues. She was away from home and couldn't leave the dog unattended in her accommodation so, rather than choose an activity where pet dogs were permitted she took him with her.

Emotional support dogs are not a thing in the UK. Assistance Dogs however are legally allowed in places such as the stately home.

You say no dogs should be allowed, emotional support or not. Does that mean no Guide Dogs? Assistance Dogs is a term that covers Guide Dogs, as well as many other dogs that support disabled people. It is vital that they be allowed whether you like it or not.

However, you are definitely NOT being unreasonable with your friend. It is so wrong to pretend a dog is an Assistance Dog.

Yes, you are right. The OP explained this to me and I apologised as it was hard to read from the original post whether they meant that.

As an aside, Guide Dogs come under the umbrella of Assistance Dogs (ie they're a type of Assistance Dog).

She was wrong to do that. So YANBU on that count.

But regarding dogs being allowed in other places you are. It's up to the owners of the establishments at the end of the day. It must benefit them to let dogs in or they wouldn't do it.

My dog goes to pubs with us and when we're on holiday, to dog friendly cafes etc.

Yes, if they're an assistance dog - they might be trained to alert to panic attacks about to happen, or to provide deep pressure therapy in event of crisis, or other tasks to assist their handler in accessing places. They are not dogs merely for emotional support - they are assistance dogs with a job to do. They also need to be trained to a suitable standard to provide this assistance, as well as being very well-behaved.

Of COURSE she doesn’t mean Guide dogs and Assistance Dogs.

well if she lied she lied but dogs who support people's mental health are allowed in law and do not need ID, tags, coats or other labels https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/assistance-dogs-guide-all-businesses

As previously stated, emotional support animals aren't a thing in the UK - only assistance dogs need to be recognised by places as a legal requirement. Assistance dogs are trained to do specific tasks for their handler, not provide emotional support.

I say this as a dog owner, who loves their dog and frequently takes them to dog friendly shops/cafes/pubs, but would never dream of claiming he's an assistance dog (even though he does help my mental health), because I wouldn't screw over people who genuinely need assistance dogs like that.

She's unreasonable because her dog is not trained to the standards of actual disability support dogs. So when dogs like hers are allowed in and behave like normal pet dogs, it makes it harder for people with e.g. guide dogs, hearing dogs. And those people have a tough enough time from people who don't know the law.

Emotional support dogs are not a thing in the UK. Assistance Dogs however are legally allowed in places such as the stately home.

You say no dogs should be allowed, emotional support or not. Does that mean no Guide Dogs? Assistance Dogs is a term that covers Guide Dogs, as well as many other dogs that support disabled people. It is vital that they be allowed whether you like it or not.

However, you are definitely NOT being unreasonable with your friend. It is so wrong to pretend a dog is an Assistance Dog.

I bet they're not just allowing their guide dogs to mix and play with other dogs. It will be regulated, controlled socialisation with a few chosen dogs and the dogs given only short periods off the lead. Or otherwise they're not sticking to the training guidelines. Perhaps that's why 30% of guide dog puppies don't qualify.

I'm sorry, but this is bollocks. I live opposite a massive park and there are guide dog puppy walkers and trainers who literally take the dogs there to socialise them and give them off-lead exercise. And they can shit wherever they like (although most dogs are more than happy to shit on concrete; my sister's dog always chose to do her business on their patio instead of the grass).

I'm a massive dog lover and she was being a complete prick.

Also, emotional support dogs aren't service dogs, so they could actually have turned her away anyway. Dogs that are trained to perform a task the handler can't do (such as guiding a visually person, alerting a hearing impaired person to a fire alarm, helping someone physically disabled with tasks like picking things up and carrying things, or alerting a person that they might be about to have a seizure) are service dogs and have to be allowed into places for accessibility. Emotional support dogs don't have to have any training and are just there to provide comfort/confidence/calmness to someone. Anyone can claim their dog is an emotional support dog. It doesn't entitle them to bring the dog into places where only service animals are allowed, because they are not service animals.

Absolutely true: my friend has her guide dog puppy now and is training it per current requirements. The dogs are taught to poo on concrete only because it's easier for the owner to locate and pick up the poo (many officially blind people still have some sight) from concrete. Also lots of blind people live in flats where they may not have easy access to suitable gardens/ parks so the dogs have to get used to pooing and peeing on concrete. (For ref, most dogs naturally prefer to defecate in undergrowth or on grass)

My friend has been instructed only to socialise the dog with a small number of other guide dogs/ approved other dogs. I haven't been permitted to take my steady older dog to visit or exercise or walk with the pup. No hours of racing round the park off-lead learning to play with strange dogs and learn doggy ways. There are rules about the dog always having to walk by the side of the fosterer and not being permitted to stop to sniff or behave normally and say hello to other dogs. This is because when they are working, they must be aloof and ignore other dogs or the natural urge to sniff. Only my friend is allowed to walk the puppy. No one else in the household is allowed to take it out. So when she had pneumonia recently, the puppy didn't get a proper walk for a few days.

Others have mentioned beagles and sniffing. I grew up with a beagle and they are scent hounds, born to sniff. All the advice is to let dogs do what they have been bred to do and that it's cruel to do otherwise. Collies and beagles need loads of exercise. Beagles need to sniff. Collies need work and mental stimulation. Terriers need to be able to dig and hunt. My friend — who has had several happy, well-behaved retriever-type dogs over the years — has found it quite upsetting that her guide dog pup hasn't been able to have the relaxed, social sort of early life her previous puppies have enjoyed. She says she feels as if she's been given the job of 'breaking' the dog. She won't be volunteering for this again and she says that she'll be the first to celebrate when dogs are replaced by robots.